Harry Magdoff(Henry Samuel Magdoff), (born Aug. 21, 1913, New York, N.Y.—died Jan. 1, 2006, Burlington, Vt.) American economist who , after a career in government service, wrote the best-selling The Age of Imperialism: The Economics of U.S. Foreign Policy (1969), which was translated into 15 languages. Magdoff began working for the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and went on to hold positions on the War Production Board and in the Department of Commerce; he became known for his keen analyses of methods for measuring productivity. Cold War suspicions about his loyalties ended Magdoff’s government career, however. He then turned to teaching and publishing and served from 1969 as coeditor, with fellow Marxist economist Paul Sweezy, of the Monthly Review.

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